Thursday, May 9, 2013

Musings: Political Wills and Ways

Political
will was the catch phrase at yesterday's Kauai County Council
meeting, with members asking why Mayor Bernard Carvalho's
administration hasn't enforced the transient vacation rental law, as
detailed in this blog's “Abuse Chronicles” series.

Council
members made it clear they do have the political will, and will soon
consider a resolution authorizing a special investigation “to find
out how and why this could've happened,” said Councilman Gary
Hooser.

Though
special investigations are permitted by the County Charter, the
Council has invoked that privilege only once, in a police
matter, and it was resolved before the inquiry got under way. Council
Chair Jay Furfaro said an investigation is “a pretty dramatic move”
but may be warranted “because we have a mess on our hands.”

“I
hope we set a precedent,” Councilman Mel Rapozo said. “We need to
tell the mayor if you keep screwing up we will investigate your butt
because I'm fed up with it already.”

“I
would not support anything that would be characterized as an
investigation,” said Planning Director Mike Dahilig, noting the
problems were “more systemic” and he hadn't seen any indication
of “malfeasance.”

Rapozo
said it's time for “an independent party to take a look at the
process and see what the heck is going on.”

The
Council had asked Dahilig and Prosecutor Justin Kollar to attend
yesterday's meeting to present a plan for cracking down on the
island's numerous TVR violations. But the Council quickly became
irritated when Dahilig said that enforcement was hindered by an
inadequate data base, poorly trained inspectors and “un-understood
relationships” with other county departments and the state Health
Department.

Dahilig
further irked the Council when he had to leave the meeting in
mid-discussion to catch a flight for another event, prompting a
two-week deferral of the matter.

“They
[the Administration] need to understand it's a priority,” Furfaro
said “There is an urgency here. We have rules. We have ordinances
that I have worked on for 12 years. It's the law of the land. They
need to get us to the point where the law is obeyed.”

Kollar
said he's ready to go once the Council funds a deputy prosecutor
position that will be assigned part-time to zoning enforcement.
Still, he said, his office is part of a “multi-pronged enforcement
effort” that will be ineffective "if one of those prongs isn't
working right.”

Councilmembers
were displeased with Dahilig's three-page enforcement handout, which
essentially said the planning department will try to get its act
together this year with the idea of cracking down on violations for
the 2014 renewal cycle. The TVR law was passed in 2008, but the
planning department failed to implement it properly, approving TVR
applications that lacked the proper documentation and houses with
zoning violations.

“A
year ago we had the same discussion,” Rapozo said, with Dahilig
promising then to go after violations in the next round of renewals.
“Every year we get excuses.”

Councilman
Tim Bynum said he felt “a lot let down” by the department's
failure to make applicants “comply with even the most basic aspects
of the law.”

Dahilig,
who took the job in late 2010, said that as he dug into the matter he
discovered “more systemic issues that I wasn't aware of. I'll be
candid about the limitations from a human resources standpoint and
infrastructure. The fundamentals aren't there.”

But
Councilmembers seemed to feel that Dahilig, the mayor and TVR owners
had been given adequate time to assess the problem and devise a clean
up plan. Some of the violations were reported to the planning
department back in 2008, but the owners were issued TVR certificates,
anyway. FEMA also identified shortcomings in the
law's implementation in August 2009, identifying TVRs that were operating with illegal ground floor units in the
flood zone.

“The
exposure to the county is huge,” Hooser said, questioning whether
the county would have increased liability if someone were to be
killed or injured in a unit that had violations the county knew about.
County Attorney Al Castillo said he couldn't answer without doing “an
analysis.”

Councilman
Ross Kagawa said the TVRs profiled in the Abuse Chronicles “are
restricting access to the beach and damaging the shoreline.” He
asked Dahilig if he could use the posts as a starting point for
enforcement. “It was almost like you were handed all this evidence.
If we don't do anything, in time the community is going to get
frustrated.”

Some
Councilmembers suggested Dahilig and Kollar enforce first against the
“low-hanging fruit” to send a message to other TVR owners that
the county is getting serious about a crack down. Others said he
should pursue one or two cases to get a handle on what it will take
to work through the list.

“I”m
not looking for enforcement on one or two,” Furfaro said. “Why
not cast a net that goes after those 16 that are the most serious?”

Councilwoman
Nadine Nakamura said she believes the TVR violations outlined in the
Abuse Chronicles “are only the tip of the iceberg.”

Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said she'd heard Realtors are selling agricultural land under the false promise that owners can develop TVRs. She wondered whether the real estate organizations could do more to crack down on unethical members.

Former Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho also weighed in, saying her office had tried to enforce against TVRs in 2010, but the planning department refused to provide any of its investigative reports, which are public, anyway. The OPA had to file a motion to compel the department to turn over the files.

Hooser
asked Dahilig if the county had followed up on any of the abuses
profiled in the blog series. Dahilig said he had looked into the first report, which found no record of building permits for the Wainiha
River dock where a visitor drowned in February. Dahilig said he sent
out inspectors, but “the work product was problematic.”

When
asked what that meant, Dahilig said the inspectors “still require
more training. We are going to be following through once we are able
to ascertain the files we are referencing were correct.”

The
$2.589 million property is currently listed by Realtor Jane Abramo as
“a very successful and fully permitted
vacation rental. All showings subject to 48 hour notice if the home
is occupied by vacation guests."

34 comments:

Anonymous
said...

so - if the inspectors do not have enough training to do their jobs after how many years (+10 years in all cases but one) then why do they still have jobs? And whose responsibility is it to ensure that HIS employees are adequately trained?

All of this Lip Service is comical. Are you people really that gullible with all that is being said? This PLAY is the same as how they covered up the identity of Kauai's Serial Killer or point the finger "NOT OUR FAULT" in the deaths from the Koloko Dam breach. Together We Can....Together We Can....Together We Can.....

And so he's flying out for what if he's not a regent? Maybe it's other county business he has to attend to? See a sick family member? Don't deflect your misstatement and try to cover up your inability to do homework before you speak.

Forget transplant vs. local. This is fraud. Although I think Dahilig is part of the problem, much of the damage was done before he took office. This mayor, the former mayor, the current council (most members) and prior councils all looked the other way. I can't believe everyone's head was in the sand. This is fraud - period. Shaylene - well, I won't even go there. The current mayor and the current council better do something to clean this mess up. My guess is their pockets were lined along the way and will not push too hard. Mel Rapozo. I will vote for anyone who looks this stuff square in the eyes and tackles it head on. No singing allowed.

Dahilig wasn't qualified for the job from the get go. They should've done a serious job search for a qualified applicant and picked the best one. I thought he was bought in to clean up this mess, instead it looks like he's covering for Ian and Imai until the storm blows over. He's blaming it on a systemic problem rather than serious negligence by personnel, no accountability that way. They need to have a thorough audit of Planning and in no uncertain terms, an investigation is warranted. As for Kagawa, where have you been? The public has long been frustrated and angry by the loss of public beach and access, not only now because Joan is blowing this out of the water and airing the county's dirty laundry. And for the clown who thinks its only "transplants" complaining about it here, you are so wrong. Many kanaka are upset and have been upset for a long time about these very issues that Joan is revealing. I'm one of them. Kudos Joan. Keep on stirring the pot and making Dahilig and the Mayor squirm.

you can't just say - Justin, give all the zoning to another attorney and they'll just have to deal with the added work load.

He is asking that a CURRENT position not be lost, which is TOTALLY different from asking for a new position. This position exists and he is asking not to lose it so that he can assign ZONING/TVR AND misc cases to this attorney.

You all seem to forget that this position is NOT ONLY for TVR... as he has had to repeat himself, its for ZONING/TVR/MISC CASES.

Even Shay said it, her office prosecuted zoning cases and Justin is simply trying to continue to engage in proactive enforcement of ZONING AND TVR issues by asking the Council NOT TO CUT FUNDING FOR AN EXISTING POSITION. An existing position Shay had, and an existing position Justin does not want to lose.

I'm sure the Council could give up the $35,000 request for a NEW SECRETARY, in addition to the $90,000 Administrator position that is in their budget that they clearly said in their presentation- we are not looking to fill that position. If you not going fill the position, why do you get to have the money in your budget???

Would the Council like to make those cuts to their budget, because as far as I can see, they are not doing their part in cutting back on their expenses as almost every department in the Mayor's administratoin has had to do. no im not a mayors good ol boy, i'm simply looking at the whole picture as a county.

pretty hyprocitical if you ask me, council points fingers at the mayor yet its okay for their department to keep asking for new positions. practice what your preach? lead by example maybe?

oh well, this whole budget thing is a circus.

it does take balls thought to start an investigation i give them that much.

ii do applaud those departments that have made the cuts even though it may effect customer service...what a shame.

May 9, 2013 at 6:00 PM that was classic Shay. Say anything even if it's pure b.s. And what was she saying about the County Attorney not paying for her travel? We're already paying $75,000 for her lawyer. She was flying all over the place as prosecutor using taxpayer money and she can't even pay her own ticket to Oahu? She says the truth needs to be told but she wouldn't answer questions about all the funny stuff when she was prosecutor.

Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho: How DARE YOU complain about the County not paying for your travel back to Kauai to a attend deposition in the Bynum lawsuit! When you already cost this County HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS! Have you no shayme?!

9:29 pm - I agree. It's a mess. The Chief lost the respect of many by backing an arrogant, wasteful, ruthless, back-stabbing and corrupt prosecutor. What does that say about him? The mayor is definitely part of the problem with no visible displays of being part of the solution. I think it's beyond him at this point. There's a reason Mel back Shay. Ask around.